Initiative to Maximize Student Development in Translational Medicine

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Initiatives to Maximize Student Development in Translational Medicine (IMSDTM) Summary Statement Over the last 20 years many professional organizations have documented that an insufficient number of underrepresented students are being trained in biomedical sciences, including those trained for research in translational medicine (TM) despite the significant increase in job opportunities for well-trained TM scientists. Lack of exposure and training opportunities for historically underrepresented populations (URPs) severely hampers their capacity to fill this national need. The College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences (CVMBS) at Colorado State University (CSU) proposes to create a unique training opportunity for URM Pre-doctorates to earn a PhD or DVM/PhD in TM. CVMBS has a strong history of T32 pre-doctoral training programs as well as T35 summer research experiences for DVM, DVM/MS, and DVM/PhD students interested in TM, but has seen just a moderate increase in URPs entering graduate programs. We seek to enhance our efforts in training and recruiting URPs by leveraging pre-existing training programs; as well as develop new pre- doctorate programs specifically designed to provide URPs with a an inclusive, supportive and comprehensive training environment for research, communication, and career development in TM. The proposed plan provides comprehensive and flexible TM training to facilitate basic biomedical and clinical research. To achieve these goals, five objectives are proposed: (1) Increase the number of PhD students from under-represented backgrounds with interest and aptitude for TM research to enter a mentored training program. (2) Enhance existing programs by building a flexible and rigorous research training program for students in basic and clinical research. (3) Encourage, support and enhance TM training and collaboration through CSU’s new Translational Medicine Institute (4) Facilitate entry into the workforce by providing training in team research, science communication and professional development experiences. (5) Build social and learning networks to provide a supportive and inclusive environment, enabling timely completion of the PhD degree. These frameworks will support our IMSDTM students through individualized counseling, mentoring and advising relationships at multiple levels. Success will be determined by a comprehensive assessment by the CSU Institute for Research in the Social Sciences. We will recruit historically underrepresented students to our IMSDTM training program from CSU’s NSF CO-WY AMP program; Fort Lewis College, a non-Tribal College Native American serving institution; CSU-Pueblo, a Hispanic Serving Institution with well-established undergraduate training program for Hispanic students; CVMBS undergraduates from three Departments of Microbiology, Immunology, Pathology, Biomedical Sciences, Environmental Radiological Health Sciences, and the Cellular & Molecular biology program. This comprehensive training approach will prepare IMSDTM scholars to successfully complete their PhD degrees and enter careers in the multiple discipline areas found in translational medicine The IMSDTM cohort will enhance the experience of all our students by increasing diversity of experiences, thought and perspectives in our graduate programs.